Blu-Ray Review: Khrustalyov, My Car!

I don’t think any modern director has painted a portrait of a living Hell quite so starkly and disquietingly as Aleksei German. His final film, Hard to be a God, was entirely unsettling in its depiction of an alternative reality/alien Medieval horrorscape. Like many of his eastern European colleagues, German became a victim of a repressive regime and only made six films throughout a career dogged by censorship and interference. In 1998 he made his greatest film, Khrustalyov, My Car!

On a seemingly normal day in early 1953, a top brain surgeon, General Yuri Klensky (Yuriy Tsurilo), is making his rounds at a hospital; going about his daily business without a care in the world. An important man, he lives with his family in an apartment in Moscow where he’s the top-dog. Then, suddenly, his world comes crashing down around him. The appearance of a double is the first clue that Yuri is being targeted in the anti-Semitic ‘doctor’s plot’ and must run for his life.

Khrustalyov, My Car! Is a bleached out monochrome mix of purgatorial realism, slapstick nihilism, emotionless brutality and surrealist nightmare. German’s satire takes no prisoners, making it a tough watch at times. The pace is relentless as the camera takes the audience deep into the heart of the action. Sputum and all. There have been very few directors like Aleksei German and Khrustalyov, My Car! Is a one of a kind.

Limited edition contents:

New 2K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

Original uncompressed 2.0 stereo Russian audio soundtrack

Newly translated English subtitles

Audio commentary by producer Daniel Bird

Between Realism and Nightmare, a new video essay on Khrustalyov, My Car! and the films of Aleksei German by historian and film critic Eugénie Zvonkine

Diagnosis Murder: Jonathan Brent on The Doctors’ Plot, the academic talks about Stalin’s anti-Semitic campaign which provides the backdrop for Khrustalyov, My Car!

About the AuthorRob Aldam

Rob worked on a number of online music magazines, both as a writer and editor, before concentrating on his first love - film. After stints as Cultural and Film Editor on local magazines, he took up residency as Film Editor at Backseat Mafia. He specialises in covering world cinema, independent film, documentaries, and championing the underdog.